Many questions in Vines case

Authorities still investigating

Published: Monday, December 3, 2012 at 6:30 p.m.

Last Modified: Monday, December 3, 2012 at 6:30 p.m.

As authorities continue to investigate last week's rape/homicide at The Vines, there were still key questions that had not been publicly answered.

Had the suspect, Christopher J. Love, 63, been violent recently?

Love's sister, Pat Korba of Wesley Chapel, declined comment. In a previous, unrelated court case, a judge had appointed Korba to be her brother's guardian advocate.

On Monday, Korba said she had been advised not to reveal any details about Love or his Baker Act cases.

How does The Vines determine a patient's propensity for violence, and in what manner to house them? Why would Love be put in a room with the victim, 75-year-old Ramon Sanchez?

Sanchez, 75, was admitted to The Vines on Nov. 10 because he had shown signs of bipolar symptoms, lack of insight, and dementia. The court ordered involuntary inpatient placement for him.

His wife, Frances, was appointed as his guardian advocate. Reached Monday, Frances Sanchez declined comment. No one answered the phone later in the day when Sanchez had said her grown son would be home.

In previous statements, Scott Price, The Vines' director of business development, said the hospital was working with police throughout the investigation, but would not discuss any specific incident because of patient confidentiality.

The Vines is a freestanding 98-bed psychiatric hospital with 48 beds in its adult unit. It has 14 beds in the adult Baker Act unit designated for adults 55 and older. A third of its patients are from Lake and Sumter counties, Price said two years ago during a public hearing that the Agency for Health Care Administration held about the establishment of an unrelated facility in Leesburg.

Representatives from The Vines and its parent company, Universal Health Services, Inc., a Fortune 500 hospital management company based in King of Prussia, Pa., were not available for comment Monday.

According to its website, Universal Health Services, Inc. owns and operates 218 "locally managed facilities," 187 of which are behavioral health facilities in 36 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Love had a history of mental illness and was taken into custody under the Baker Act on Wednesday, two days before police say he killed and raped Sanchez.

Love was found on top of a mattress on the ground in a room at the facility on Southwest 27th Avenue. Sanchez was underneath the mattress laying face down on the floor.

It appeared that Love had tried to simulate sexual intercourse with the mattress when workers at the facility found him during room checks. The workers also told Ocala Police officials that they found Sanchez on the ground with his underwear pulled down.

Love later admitted to police that he had sex with the victim and harmed him, Ocala police said.

Love was at the facility because a neighbor of his at the Fairfield Village retirement community had called the Sheriff's Office on Nov. 28 to report that he was "not acting like himself and fears he may not be on his prescribed medication."

A sheriff's deputy dispatched to the scene reported that Love "did not make any sense" and "he seemed to jump from one subject to another."

Love did tell the deputy that he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, was manic depressive and hadn't taken his medication because he felt he didn't need it.

He was later taken into custody under the Baker Act and taken to The Vines for evaluation.

But that wasn't the first time Love had been taken in for mental health problems.

Last December while at an assisted living facility in Micanopy, Love reportedly threatened women at the home and "stated all women need to be mutilated by dawn," a sheriff's report said.

According to the report, it was determined Love's medication was changed and he hadn't reacted well.

In that case, the court determined that Love wasn't competent to consent to treatment and ordered involuntary inpatient placement for him at The Centers.

<p>As authorities continue to investigate last week's rape/homicide at The Vines, there were still key questions that had not been publicly answered.</p><p>Had the suspect, Christopher J. Love, 63, been violent recently?</p><p>Love's sister, Pat Korba of Wesley Chapel, declined comment. In a previous, unrelated court case, a judge had appointed Korba to be her brother's guardian advocate.</p><p>On Monday, Korba said she had been advised not to reveal any details about Love or his Baker Act cases.</p><p>How does The Vines determine a patient's propensity for violence, and in what manner to house them? Why would Love be put in a room with the victim, 75-year-old Ramon Sanchez?</p><p>Sanchez, 75, was admitted to The Vines on Nov. 10 because he had shown signs of bipolar symptoms, lack of insight, and dementia. The court ordered involuntary inpatient placement for him.</p><p>His wife, Frances, was appointed as his guardian advocate. Reached Monday, Frances Sanchez declined comment. No one answered the phone later in the day when Sanchez had said her grown son would be home.</p><p>In previous statements, Scott Price, The Vines' director of business development, said the hospital was working with police throughout the investigation, but would not discuss any specific incident because of patient confidentiality.</p><p>The Vines is a freestanding 98-bed psychiatric hospital with 48 beds in its adult unit. It has 14 beds in the adult Baker Act unit designated for adults 55 and older. A third of its patients are from Lake and Sumter counties, Price said two years ago during a public hearing that the Agency for Health Care Administration held about the establishment of an unrelated facility in Leesburg.</p><p>Representatives from The Vines and its parent company, Universal Health Services, Inc., a Fortune 500 hospital management company based in King of Prussia, Pa., were not available for comment Monday.</p><p>According to its website, Universal Health Services, Inc. owns and operates 218 "locally managed facilities," 187 of which are behavioral health facilities in 36 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.</p><p>Love had a history of mental illness and was taken into custody under the Baker Act on Wednesday, two days before police say he killed and raped Sanchez.</p><p>Love was found on top of a mattress on the ground in a room at the facility on Southwest 27th Avenue. Sanchez was underneath the mattress laying face down on the floor.</p><p>It appeared that Love had tried to simulate sexual intercourse with the mattress when workers at the facility found him during room checks. The workers also told Ocala Police officials that they found Sanchez on the ground with his underwear pulled down.</p><p>Love later admitted to police that he had sex with the victim and harmed him, Ocala police said.</p><p>Love was at the facility because a neighbor of his at the Fairfield Village retirement community had called the Sheriff's Office on Nov. 28 to report that he was "not acting like himself and fears he may not be on his prescribed medication."</p><p>A sheriff's deputy dispatched to the scene reported that Love "did not make any sense" and "he seemed to jump from one subject to another."</p><p>Love did tell the deputy that he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, was manic depressive and hadn't taken his medication because he felt he didn't need it.</p><p>He was later taken into custody under the Baker Act and taken to The Vines for evaluation.</p><p>But that wasn't the first time Love had been taken in for mental health problems.</p><p>Last December while at an assisted living facility in Micanopy, Love reportedly threatened women at the home and "stated all women need to be mutilated by dawn," a sheriff's report said.</p><p>According to the report, it was determined Love's medication was changed and he hadn't reacted well.</p><p>In that case, the court determined that Love wasn't competent to consent to treatment and ordered involuntary inpatient placement for him at The Centers.</p>